Castle of Glass
by Azalea419
Summary: Alex Winchester, twenty-two year old twin sister to Sam and younger sister to Dean, has never set foot in a real Jaeger. And in 2034, she believes she never will due to her failure in the Academy. Then Castiel Novak, the famous enigma that piloted a Jaeger all by himself, asks her to be his co-pilot. But things are never that easy for the Winchesters. Calex (Castiel/OC)


**Hello, everyone.**

**This fanfiction was inspired for my great love of the "Song Remains the Same" Calex fanfic and my new found obsession with Pacific Rim. Alex Winchester is an OC created by the lovely _River Winters_.**

**Full Summary: **Alex Winchester, twenty-two year old twin sister to Sam and younger sister to Dean, has never set foot in a real Jaeger. In her past, she suffered from a neural overload during Drift Sync Testing and was cut from the Jaeger Academy. When all the Novaks suddenly spill into the Hong Kong Shatterdome, things get really interesting. Castiel Novak, the famous enigma that piloted a Jaeger all by himself, presents her with an opportunity of a lifetime: to be his co-pilot.  
But things are never that easy for the Winchesters.

**You can find the tumblr for this fic at: castleofglassxfic(.tumblr)(.com) (There's yummy character and Jaeger profiles there, as well as eventual gifsets, art, and other visuals inspired by the fic and the shows it was born from.)**

**Warning: The rating may change to M in future chapters, it's uncertain right now.**

**Disclaimer: Supernatural and Pacific Rim are not mine. I give credit to the great Alexander Irvine (because I used the novelization for a lot of my research).**

_Prologue_

_August 11, 2013 at 0700, the first kaiju raged from the sea and devastated the sprawling city of San Francisco. Code-named Trespasser, it took 3 nuclear bombs to put down . To the rest of the world, the date was known as "K-Day". To the Winchesters, it was the day they lost their beloved wife and mother, Mary Winchester._

_Five months later, The Breach hurled out another kaiju – this time headed for Manila. The third came a little less than eight months after that, nearly destroying Cabo San Lucas before it too was nuked to cinders. The fourth attack on Sydney, Australia prompted Dr. Jasper Schoenfield to contemplate how to better protect the populace._

_The inception of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps came out of the global desperation to save humanity. The Jaeger program, propositioned by Germany, Australia, and Japan, was a way to fight back without covering the planet in death zones._

_John Winchester (having been a brilliant and highly decorated Marine), along with his best friend, Bobby Singer, immediately joined the PPDC – as did millions of others who, despite the terror and carnage left by these alien beings, believed that the Corps' thirty-story tall, mass weapons could give them a chance to preserve the human species._

* * *

_Alaska, 2020_  
_Kaiju War Year 7_  
_Anchorage Shatterdome_

"Bogie advancing fast in sector seven."

Weathered veteran and technician extraordinaire, Master Gunnery Sergeant Bobby Singer, tapped idly on the edge of his desk as he scanned and interpreted the data from the hundreds of remote sensors that covered the Pacific Ocean centered on the Breach south of Guam. The alarms signaling the arrival of another Kaiju made the adrenaline pump faster in his veins. No matter how many times he'd heard that sound, the fear and excitement that came with it never ceased to flood his limbs.

Bobby whistled. "Category III." He glanced away from his screens to his best friend of twelve years.

Marshal John Winchester's expression was serious, and as usual, didn't give any indication to what he might have thought about the information he'd been given. In his right hand, he rolled a shiny, silver whistle – attached to a chain whistle that disappeared into the breast pocket of his uniform. Only a few people – Bobby included – knew the significance of John's signature totem.

"Have any other Jaegers been deployed yet?" John asked quietly, his eyes never leaving the red dot that was slowly moving across the screen.

"California sent Romeo Blue, but it slipped by without breaking the ten-mile radius." Rufus Turner, Anchorage's best weapons expert and Bobby's right-hand man in LOCCENT, swiveled around in his chair. "It's headed right for us."

Here, a frown appeared on John's face and Bobby, already knowing what he would say, thumbed a panel on his screen and pressed the button on his communication earpiece.

"This is LOCCENT. Wake the Novaks," He murmured.

A moment later, the Marshal spoke. "Get The Archangel on deck."

* * *

When the first of the Kaiju alert system alarms blared through the hallways, twelve year-old Dean Winchester scrambled out of bed immediately. He hadn't been sleeping anyway; he'd been waiting for his dad to come back and hopefully get a few words in. It had been almost days since he'd last spoke a full sentence to his dad, who – being the Marshal – was usually too busy to mind his children. Dean woke Sammy first because he slept on the bottom bunk and he didn't really want to climb the ladder in the dark.

"Sammy! Sammy! Wake-up! Movement in the breach!" Dean shook his brother roughly by the shoulder.

Eight year-old Sam Winchester blinked, wincing against the screech of the alarms. He hugged his pillow and refused to oblige his brother in getting out of bed.

"Don't Dean. I don't want to get in trouble again," Sam grumbled. Children were supposed to stay inside when the alarms sounded.

Dean was momentarily distracted from dragging Sam out of bed by the command monitor emitting a harsh white glare in the darkness of their room. One of the perks of living with the Marshal was that privileged information came directly to the room's monitor – and when their father wasn't there, Dean usually had a full, clear view of the screen. He read out loud the information streaming from LOCCENT Command.

"This one's a Category III, biggest one yet!" Dean breathed excitedly, "Sammy! They're deploying The Archangel!"

The Archangel was the best Jaeger on the west coast, credited with nine kaiju kills and known for its extreme efficiency in getting the job done. It was even more notoriously known for its piloting team, the three eldest Novak brothers.

Giving up on his brother for the moment, Dean settled on his other younger sibling.

"Al! C'mon, get up! The Archangel's being deployed!" He turned around and was startled to see his younger sister at his shoulder.

Alex Winchester smiled widely as she wrapped her arms around her older brother's waist in an affectionate squeeze-hug.

"Atta girl!" Dean ruffled her hair fondly. At least one of his siblings knew how to enjoy the good stuff.

Even if it was the silent one. In the fire that had killed their mother, Alex's baby lungs hadn't been able to handle the smoke. The doctor said her lungs were so badly damaged that she would never be able to make a sound again. Sometimes, Dean wished he'd run faster out of the house, or covered her face more carefully with the blanket. Maybe it was his fault, though she never saw it that way. Either way, she was still his little sister and he took the role of big brother seriously, getting into more fistfights than he should've protecting his sister from the jerks that teased and bullied her for her disability.

"Sammy, we're gonna leave without you!"

Alex cracked open the door and peered out, brushing her sleep-tangled hair from her face. Many people were already jogging in both directions down the hall. Usually, she sided with Sam when Dean wanted to sneak out, but this was different. The minute she'd heard it was The Archangel that was being deployed, she couldn't help the burning curiosity to see just what Dean had been rambling about for weeks on end. Dean had been the only one of them to see The Archangel Jaeger and even then, only for a brief glance before Bobby had found him and shooed him back to their room. Sure, Alex had seen other Jaegers before, mostly on TV, but the way Dean talked about this one – well, he made it sound like God's magnificent creation.

Sam, faced with the prospect of being left behind, got up with a few grumbles and stood behind Alex as Dean slowly side-stepped his way out of the room. He led the twins by the hand towards the Jaeger dock; he had memorized the route and traveled it countless times. Many of the adults rushing by were too preoccupied to care about the three Winchester children being out and about where they weren't supposed to so it was easier to take the straight route, out in the open. Dean still kept a cautious eye out for his father; though he knew most likely the Marshal would be in the LOCCENT.

Almost tripping over her own small feet, Alex allowed herself to be tugged along by her older brothers. She kept her head down and stuck close to Sam, almost as if she were trying to hide inside her twin brother. She really hoped they wouldn't get caught this time before she had the chance to see the glorious Jaeger.

Because the Anchorage Shatterdome was the longest they'd ever stayed in one place, they were very familiar with the contours of the facility. After the death of their mother – which the twins were too young to remember – John had moved the family from place to place (at that time, Alex's home had consisted of the Impala, army barracks, and her brothers) as he rose within the ranks of the PPDC, finally being transferred from Los Angeles Shatterdome to three years ago as Marshal in command of the West Coast Division of the Jaeger Program. Having been raised in a time of war and bare survival, Alex was more familiar with guns and emergency medical routines than with dolls and dresses. John Winchester, being more of a drill sergeant than a father, stressed shooting, survival skills, defensive tactics, and physical conditioning before the usual child education. Bobby was the one who taught them to read and write (albeit after he made sure they were introduced to mechanics).

"Dean, we really shouldn't –"

"We're almost there Sammy, can't go back now." Dean squeezed his brother's hand. "Unless you want to bump into Dad or Bobby or whomever by yourself."

Sam made a face, but fell silent as Dean pushed open a door that creaked on its metal hinges. Alex could already hear the mechanical whirring and drilling of the docking station, complete with the echoes of metal clanging on metal. This was the place she loved best, where she could sit for hours on end, watching the technicians and mechanical teams mold, shine, repair, and work their skillful magic on the five Jaegers that the Anchorage Shatterdome housed under its bullet-proof glass roof. For now, the only Jaeger in the docking station was The Archangel. The other four: Brawler Yukon, Chrome Brutus, Tango Tasmania, and Gipsy Danger, were all safely asleep in their dock houses.

Since Sam went through the door first and apparently the sight that awaited him was enough to stop him in his tracks, Alex was reduced to waiting outside the doorway a few more moments. Her curiosity burned anew as she watched the admiration ripple across her twin's face and his mouth open wide in wonder. _Sheesh, Sammy, move!_

Alex shoved her brother aside, impatient to see the heavenly wonder that was The Archangel.

In her haste to get through the door, Alex Winchester tripped over the raised doorstep, barreled into her taller twin who, in turn, stumbled into their older brother, and in the tangle of limbs that ensued, she was tipped over the incredibly low handbar on the edge of the platform. Sam let out a shriek of panic – _Alex! _– and Dean dove in a desperate attempt to catch his sister's disappearing feet. Alex, startled on her part, opened her mouth to let out an inaudible cry as gravity flipped her stomach. There was a few seconds of air rushing past and several strands of hair in her mouth, and then she suddenly jerked to a halt with a burst of white-hot pain in her right ankle.

With tears streaming into her hair, hanging upside down from the cable that had caught around her right ankle and essentially saved her from becoming a pile of broken bones and spilled blood on the ground far below, Alex Winchester saw The Archangel for the first time.

Its metal body had a blinding white shine which, after a few blinks you might notice a light blue hue. The secondary black abyss color that covered the rivets, sockets, shoulders, and waist offset the white shine perfectly to give the Jaeger a intimidatingly clean look. The single decal on its chest was painted a bright green, because one of the brothers believed in the healing of the mind and body was intertwined or something like that. Alex experienced a sense of awe and fear that overpowered her immediate fright of her near-death experience just moments before. She'd never seen a Jaeger quite like The Archangel. Its T-16 Angel Wings lent the machine a sense of otherworldly power, as did the then-unique chain sword that extended from its right arm, gleaming menacingly in the bright docking lights. Altogether, given the situation she was in and her eight years of living in a warzone, Alex truly believed she'd seen an angel.

Sound rushed back into her ears and the taste of copper filled her mouth where she'd bitten her lip against the terrible pain now pulsing through her leg. She looked back up at the platform and saw that her father was there, yelling at Dean who looked very pale, ashamed, and scared. Sammy was crying, the almost death of his twin scaring him to tears. The medical team was rushing around the spectacle and down the stairs and eventually someone brought an extendable ladder-looking thing to help the medical team reach her dangling position.

Alex ignored the fuss around her and kept quiet, gazing wonderingly at the massive Jaeger that loomed over her. The amber platinum visor shield kept her from seeing inside the Conn-pod and left her with a reflection of the scene that The Archangel now gazed upon. Looking at herself in the amber glass, she felt almost as if the robot were gazing into the depths of her soul. Not for the first time, she wondered what it would be like to stand inside the Conn-pod; being up that high with a bird's eye view of San Francisco; to stand on top of the world and watch over its inhabitants – like a God. It wasn't unusual for a child her age now to fantasize about being a Jaeger pilot; most children – and many adults – did. It was the most celebrated position in a society plagued by constant fear of unknown invasion. Jaeger pilots were the world's heroes and Alex Winchester yearned to be a hero.

She was still hanging upside down from the cable, feeling the aching effects of all the blood rushing to her head, when The Archangel's pilots made their grand entrance. A young man wearing a white drivesuit, a helmet-thing tucked under his arm, stepped through the doorway onto a platform across the way at Alex's eye level. His short blonde hair was tousled like someone had vigorously ruffled their hand through it. His face was wide with a five o'clock shadow; his shoulders were strong and broad. His vivid blue eyes – cold and full of disdain, like he thought everyone around him was worthless – made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. The following young man wore the same, carried the same, however this one was leaner and stood with a lithe, graceful poise. His green eyes were not unkind, but piercing and unyielding. Unlike his brother, he had black hair and his face was clean shaven, and he seemed to have a calmer air around him than the first man – though he was none the less intimidating. The third man that stepped in after them, again wearing the suit and carrying the helmet, didn't look at all related to the first two. He had much darker skin that matched his dark and brooding eyes. He was shorter than the other two, dark fuzz covering his head, and he seemed very serious. All three men made Alex afraid although she didn't know why; most of the immediate area had fallen silent and most kept their eyes to the ground as the trio walked past. It was like everyone was holding their breath and the next few minutes were swathed in an uncomfortable tension. Alex though it was weird that Anchorage's – and quiet possibly the world's – A-team rendered such an atmosphere. She'd never seen the Novak brothers until now, but their feats were to be celebrated and the general public heralded them as saviors. Looking at them from an upside down view made her feel small, as if they as tall as The Archangel, walking over her like she were significant. She had no more time to ponder the reality of having seen them up close as a hand on her back drew her attention away from the Jaeger and its famous pilots.

"Hi honey, we're here to help you," A man in a medic's uniform said, patting her back gently.

_About time_, she though sourly. Her ankle hurt like hell and she was almost sure her head would burst if she kept hanging like this any longer.

"I'm just gonna help you keep your head above your heart, like this." He braced her by the shoulders and pushed her upper half up. Some movement pulled at her ankle and she let out a little cry, tears fresh in her eyes; other medics had come on the ladder and began to work on getting her ankle free. "We'll get you out of this in a jiffy, don't worry. You only sprained an ankle, it's not too serious."

She rolled her eyes at how delicately he was treating her. She'd fared worse in the past, what with the rough upbringing and all. Still, the tears stung her eyes and she swallowed the urge to cry.

"If the pain gets to be too much, let us know okay? We don't want to make it worse." He kept an arm around her small shoulders as the blood rushed back into her body, leaving her light-headed.

She nodded. She just wanted to get back to bed now; she didn't really want to get yet another John Winchester tongue-lashing that usually came when they caused trouble or got caught like today. Selfishly, she hoped he'd just get it all out on Dean. The moment she thought it, she felt ashamed and banished the thought. Dean always claimed full responsibility anyway and she knew how much it pained him when their father was angry or disappointed in him.

Finally, they got her ankle out of the stupid cable and a medic carried her across the ladder onto the nearest narrow walkway. She dug her nails into her palms to distract herself from the pain as they jostled her onto a stretcher. Several medics soothed her along the way, and praised her for her pain tolerance, but she ignored them. As they approached the platform from which she'd fallen, Dean ran to her side, Sammy clinging to his back and wiping the tear tracks from his face. Both her brothers began talking at once.

"Al, are you okay? You didn't break anything right? I thought you were gonna die. That medic said it was just a sprained ankle, right? You're okay, right?" Dean grabbed her hands in his, worry blatant in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Sam hiccupped, on the verge of crying again. "Please don't die, Al."

Dean rolled his eyes. "She's not gonna die, Sammy. Don't cry, okay? Al didn't even cry that much and she's the one who fell. She's the toughest girl we know, right Sammy?"

Dean's familiar joking demeanor made her relax as she squeezed her older brother's hand, patting it a few times to get the message across. _I'm okay. _She glowed under Dean's praise; it didn't come often and even then most of the time was followed by joking slights and rough-housing.

Casting an anxious glance around for their father, she pointed to the approximate location of LOCCENT and stared at her oldest brother. _Where's Dad? _He understood immediately.

Dean's smile wilted at the corners. "He left. There's still a kaiju out there, you know? You aren't actually the center of the world, Al." And there was the usual joking slight.

_Oh._ Alex didn't know why she'd been expecting him to stick around for her medical treatment; he wasn't usually involved in his children's lives. Hell, she saw more of Bobby than she did her own father.

"Will you boys be accompanying her to medical?" The medic asked politely.

Dean gave him a look that clearly said he thought the man was stupid. "Yeah. Duh."

Sammy nodded along eagerly and Alex was relieved that she wouldn't be separated from her brothers. She'd been to medical before so she knew how boring it could get without some company.

Unfazed by the child contempt directed towards him, the man motioned for the rest of the medical party to exit. "Fantastic! Let's get going then."

It took a full hour and half for Alex to be released from the medical bay. To compensate the children's boredom, the nurses gave them all lollipops and a coloring book. Alex threw the coloring book in the trash and wriggled away happily when Dean tried to swipe her lollipop. Sam didn't let go of her hand the entire time and kept apologizing until Alex pleaded with Dean silently to shut him up. Dean did, by threatening to take Sam back to the room and leave him there alone. Bobby dropped by, cuffed Dean gently on the back of the head – _you idjit – _and awkwardly patted Alex's hair.

"The doctor said you were one tough cookie and I said, 'Damn straight'." He left in hurry; he was still on shift, but Alex appreciated the gesture.

With a shiny black air-cast and a fun wheelchair, Alex was sent back to their room, Dean pushing and Sam trailing behind. All in all, it had been a fun experience. Now she could make Dean and Sam do all her chores and make them push her and be spoiled for a while. The three Winchester children went back to sleep without a fuss, having participated in the excitement enough for one day.

Outside their peaceful, cozy bunker room, chaos erupted.

* * *

John Winchester was in a foul mood, but once again, facial expression betrayed nothing. He was still fuming about his children's misbehavior that had distracted him during this critical situation. The only indication that he was anything other than calm and collected was the sharp intonation in his voice as he barked orders in LOCCENT.

"Stay on course, Rangers. Knifehead is within 30 miles approaching your 1 o'clock."

Rufus slapped his hand against the deck as the data spiked across the screen haphazardly. "I'm getting another signature!"

A moment later, he tapped the radar display where another red dot suddenly swerved onscreen, moving rapidly towards the blue dot that represented The Archangel. "It's another kaiju! Category IV."

John leaned forward over the control board, his jaw twitching. "There's a Category IV headed your way, Rangers – codename: Azazel. New orders: retreat and wait for backup."

As he spoke, Bobby saw one of the two kaiju bogeys make a move. "Boys, you have movement on your left flank."

"Damn." Lucifer's voice sounded over the still-open comm. Then: "Incoming!"

At the same time, Rufus, who had been watching the remote sensors and seen the readings for mass and speed, cried, "Brace for impact, Archangel!"

John tracked the fast-moving red dots as they closed in on the blue dot. The pilots of The Archangel were beyond excellent, but they wouldn't be able to survive a double-attack without some help. He shouted decisively, "Rangers, retreat! Retreat and wait for backup, dammit!" He whirled, turning to Jodie Mills, another LOCCENT personnel. "Are there any other Jaegers in the vicinity?"

"Brawler Yukon is the closest, sir, but it's being-"

"Deploy them," John snapped, "Get out of there now, Michael!"

"No! I'm reinitiating Operation Pitfall!" Michael's voice became intermittent with the sound of crashing metal. "The Archangel's equipped with a nuclear warhead" – _since when? _John thought, shocked – "If we can reach the Breach, we can detonate and finish these bastards once and –"

His voice cut off leaving John furious as he lurched forward and punched the comm button. The plasma screen that covered LOCCENT's control board spawned the images of Michael, Lucifer, and Raphael as seen inside the Conn-Pod of The Archangel. "This is a direct order: retreat and rendezvous with Brawler Yukon at Sydney! Do not approach The Breach! Do you understand?!"

Raphael was the one who replied in his usually quiet but deep baritone voice, "Marshal, this could save lives. We've agreed to-"

The three Ranger's faces disappeared suddenly, but the comm link remained open. LOCCENT heard cries of alarm from all three men and then the horrible screeching sounds of tearing metal. The Archangel's monitors displayed critical damage to the head.

"Get them back on the comm!"

"I'm trying, sir! It looks like whatever dealt damage to the head also wiped out the display function on their end!"

The comm link emitted a few bursts of static; then Michael's voice, high and surprised, "Lucy, don't!"

The blue dot on the radar hovered over the orange line that represented The Breach.

John slammed the comm button desperately, "Rangers, get out of there!"

Lucifer's gleeful laugh echoed through the comm link clearly then cut out permanently. The transmission sensor stopped blinking green, leaving the LOCCENT crew in abrupt silence. Everyone watched John Winchester.

"Novak? Novak! Michael! What's your status?" Pause. "Lucifer! Raphael! Come in!" He hit the receiver button uselessly. "This is Marshal Winchester, what's the Archangel's status?!"

His hands balled into fists as he kept his eyes glued to the stationary blue dot. A moment later, it vanished. The displays monitoring The Archangel flashed with an ugly red ERROR. Bobby watched the Marshal continue to stare at the plasma screen, as if he could stare the blue dot back into existence. Bobby sat. stunned. He tried to banish the thought from his mind. _They can't be..._

"Bobby, get all other Jaegers on deck and ready for deployment."

John seemed to have collected himself enough to give orders again. The technician nodded, his fingers flying over the display. "Brawler Yukon and Chrome Brutus are already on deck. Tango Tasmania is being fitted as we speak-"

Jodie interrupted hurriedly, "Sir, Gipsy Danger is currently out of commission-"

John cut her off too, "Right, I see. Just those three then, quickly."

There were a few precious moments of silence as the LOCCENT crew watched the three Jaegers on deck. Every person in the room could still hear Lucifer's laugh echoing in their ears, like a deadly omen.

Satisfied that his hastily formed strike team was assembled, the Marshal nodded. "Engage drop." This was followed by the familiar booming metal snap. "Rangers, this is Marshal Winchester. Prepare for neural handshake."

"Starting in four…three…" Bobby gave the countdown.

A few tense minutes later, he rapped the screen lightly where three pairs of holographic brains lit up in thousands of colors. "Neural handshakes strong and holding."

A new, younger voice came through the comm link. "D'onofrio and Lightcap, reporting. Brawler Yukon, ready for deployment." Followed by another, "Blacker and Jefferson, all set. Chrome Brutus, standing at the ready." And then a female voice, "Lowry and Ricketts, with Tango Tasmania, go for deployment."

Marshal Winchester gave his command loud and clear. "Listen carefully Rangers, your orders are to bring The Archangel's pilots back at all costs and hold the Miracle Mile off Anchorage."

All six pilot's faces displayed above LOCCENT's main plasma-screen were serious and determined. It wasn't every day that the Marshal commanded Jaegers into a jurisdiction far from his own. They knew what they were getting into; they had, after all, signed up for a war.

All six Rangers chimed in, "Yes, sir!"

"Go." John leaned heavily against the command console, unable to help the feeling that he was sending these young pilots off to their deaths.

"Be safe."

* * *

On February 29th, 2020 at 0345, Operation Pitfall, reinitiated by Michael Novak during AK-20 engagement, was declared a failure and subsequently aborted. Knifehead and Azazel were eliminated, but at great cost. The Archangel, Brawler Yukon, Tango Tasmania, and Chrome Brutus were destroyed during the mission All six pilots in the rescue strike team were killed in action. At 0416, two escape pods were located a few hundred miles from where The Archangel disappeared, but when the rescue team reached them, they were empty. Imagine the world's surprise when Michael and Raphael Novak were found a few hours later, nearly dead, washed ashore on the southern coast of China. Both men were rushed to emergency medical in the Hong Kong shatterdome. Some say he was never there to begin with, but along the way, Michael Novak vanished. Lucifer was also declared killed in action and Michael was reported missing. The search teams came up with nothing. The remaining Novak brother, Raphael, made a full recovery and claimed memory loss. The best reporters could get out of him was that he would never again pilot a Jaeger and would instead, return home to his family in Australia. The PPDC opened a federal investigation, but there was so little information that it was eventually discontinued.

The most puzzling thing, however, that came of this tragedy, was the disappearance of Marshal John Winchester. Investigators questioned dozens of witnesses who saw him at PPDC headquarters in Manhattan the morning of his disappearance, presumably for the investigation into the Novak brothers, but no one remembered seeing him leave the premises. Some blamed him for The Archangel and it's pilots' demise; some speculated that the great and mighty Marshal, ashamed of his part in this global disaster, had committed suicide; and others theorized that the PPDC had done away with the Marshal to cover up some deeper government conspiracy. The PPDC refused to issue a statement about the Novaks or Marshal Winchester.

In the years without confident leadership, Jaegers around the world suffered staggering losses. By 2025, the PPDC was threatening to shut down the Jaeger Program in order to generate more funds for the Wall of Life project. Due largely to Master Gunnery Sergeant Bobby Singer's persistence and promises to reboot and improve the program, the PPDC gave the Jaegers another – though limited – chance. With so few Jaegers left, only the Hong Kong and Sydney Shatterdomes remained active. After the double attack of Leatherback and Otachi in Hong Kong, January 8, 2025 (Gipsy Danger, Cherno Alpha, and Crimson Typhoon catapulted to stardom when they apprehended the monsters), there was a period of inactivity from The Breach that lasted five years. Then, on January 12th, 2030, another double-attack in the form of Scunner and Slattern hit them Guam Sea; this time, destroyed single-handedly by Tacit Ronan and its renowned Novak crew.

By 2034, the golden age of heroes had passed and the world had settled for a gritty and hopeless survival.


End file.
